


The Melancholy of Takemiya Reina

by Makkakaus



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Healing, It's not even in a romantic sense they're just so good for each other in so many ways, Kyudo, Male-Female Friendship, Neglect, OC, Original Character(s), Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Relationships, Seriously I can't imagine Midorima and Takao not together in some form or another, Three-Way Platonic Relationship, past Akashi/OC, this is gonna be a happy fic don't worry //clenches fist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16512215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makkakaus/pseuds/Makkakaus
Summary: A boy that saw everything. A girl that tried to hide everything. Add in another boy so straight-laced he'd make a ruler proud, a meddling coach, gossipy senpai, awkward encounters with exes, and a death game disguised as a basketball tournament.It shouldn't have worked nearly as well as it did, but somehow, they made it work.Though the next time Takao woke her up at five in the morning to beg for homework answers, she was going to break Midorima's lucky item and blame it on him.





	1. Takemiya Reina Doesn't do Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick(?) intro for the main OC.

_Grass green eyes blinked. She stood in a gym; she wasn't sure how she'd gotten there. She looked around._

_The gym walls were decorated with banners. Records of old victories, of a history of triumphs._

_Her reflection in the polished floor blinked back up at her, dressed in a basketball uniform. The number four hung from the jersey, baby blue on crisp white._

_She looked around; the gym was empty apart from the ball in her hands and the net in front of her._

_She shot the ball; it felt like the right thing to do. The ringing of the rim echoed off the massive walls as the ball bounced off._

_Another ball appeared in her hands._

_She shot it again; it hit the backboard and bounced away._

_A ball appeared in her hands again._

You're too far away, _spoke a familiar voice._

_Indeed, the net suddenly seemed quite far away. Had she always been standing at the half-court line? No wonder her shots kept on missing. She knew only one person who could consistently make half-court three-pointers._

_She started dribbling the ball and began running towards the net for a lay-up, but the more she ran, the further away the net seemed to be._

_A breeze picked up, sweeping in from invisible windows. The banners on the wall flapped, the sound reminiscent of a crowd clapping. She thought she could hear the faint sound of cheering._

_A jolt of pain raced up her right foot and her leg gave away. The ground seemed to be thumping, as though hundreds of people were dribbling basketballs at the same time. She fell, down and through the gym floor, falling deeper and deeper into the darkness, a pair of red and gold eyes watching her._

* * *

Reina woke up with a jerk, suddenly pulled out of the darkness she'd been falling through. Her phone alarm blared obnoxiously, and she reached over to silence it as she lay back down, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She couldn't remember what she'd been dreaming about - only the sensation of falling had come back with her.

She lay in bed for a couple more minutes before her phone blared again; this time it was a ringtone. She answered it sleepily, a yawn cutting her off mid-greeting.

"Yeah?"

 _"Don't you "yeah" me!"_ screeched the voice on the other end. Reina winced and distanced the phone from her ear. _"You're late! Did you forget we had morning practice today? It was your turn to set up! It's a good thing Tamaki-sensei had a spare key or we'd still be standing outside! It's still cold in the mornings, you know!"_

"… Oops?"

_"… You're still in bed, aren't you."_

"…" Reina didn't bother to reply and yawned instead.

 _"Takemiyaaaaa….."_ The note of warning in the voice made her cringe.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up. I'll clean and lock up tonight, okay?"

_"You do that every day anyways. If you hurry you can still get a few rounds in."_

"Eeeeh, but all the effort for just a few shots…"

_"Haaah? What was that? You want me to tell Tamaki-sensei you're gonna be the next vice-captain after all?"_

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

_"Hmph. Good."_

Click.

Reina sighed and brushed the hair out of her face. Yawning again, she sat up slowly, stretching her limbs out. Staggering to the washroom, she brushed her teeth, splashed some water on her face, and ran a comb through her hair. Good enough.

Every morning she thanked her mother who had passed on her straight and smooth hair. It rarely tangled or took shape, so all she had to do was run a brush through it. Some mornings when she was feeling particularly lazy, she used nothing more than her fingers to smoothen out the worst of the mess. It all got tied up during club practice anyways, so there was little point in styling it in anything other than a bun or ponytail.

She passed the kitchen and grabbed two slices of milk bread from the bread basket on the dining table, cramming both into her mouth. Her eyes caught sight of the small whiteboard set up on the kitchen counter; as usual, it was empty. A dish and a cup sat dry in the dishrack.

She grabbed her school bag and bow and left for the front door. 

* * *

"You're late! You said thirty minutes." Fuji Hanako, captain of the Shuutoku kyudo club, frowned at her, hands on her hips. She raised an eyebrow at the glasses on the first year's face. It wasn't impossible to shoot with glasses, but it was a hassle, so contacts were usually preferred. "Did you plan on joining practice at all?"

"Sorry, missed the earlier train." Reina gave a (mostly) apologetic shrug as she walked past her into the changeroom and set her bow and equipment bag down in her locker. "And it would have taken me even longer if I had to put my contacts in. Do I still have to change?" Hanako sighed. She was used to dealing with Reina, though, and collected herself again quickly.

"No, go help them wrap up."

"Hoi." Reina gave her captain a much more cheerful response, waving as she left. Hanako shook her head. Kids these days.

In the shooting hall, her teammates had already taken down the targets and were sweeping the wooden floors. A second year handed her a rag and she nodded her thanks and got to work.

"Takemiya, you're late again?" asked one of the third years, peering down at her over his glasses with an amused look.

"Eeeh you know I'm not a morning person, senpai. I'm never awake before second period." The senpai shook his head with a snort. "And hey, Yori-chan isn't here either." She looked around for the other first year in the club with her.

"Takagi already left, she covered for someone else last time so she got to leave early. You're lucky Fuji took you on as her yearly pity case, or you'd be in deep shit. Would still be if you didn't come to every afternoon practice."

"I am forever grateful to my kind and benevolent senpai-"

A rag hit her from behind. "Less talking, more scrubbing, first year." Shibata Yousuke, the vice-captain, gave her an unimpressed glare as she pouted, rubbing the back of her head in an exaggerated motion.

"Vice-captain, if that's how you treat girls you'll never get a girlfriend- erk." Shibata had closed the distance between them in two large steps and caught her in a chokehold.

"You're not a girl, you're a sloth masquerading as a human."

"Oooh senpai's using big words, did you study-" Shibata tightened the chokehold until she gave in, tapping his arm furiously as spots appeared in her vision. She wheezed as he finally let her go. "So mean, senpai."

"What was that?"

"Senpai is the best~"

"Damn right."

The rest of the club rolled their eyes and smiled.

* * *

Morning classes were always tough after morning practice, even when she only arrived for clean up. Reina hid a yawn behind her textbook and blinked tears out of her eyes, squinting to catch the words on the chalkboard. She needed a new prescription soon; it was getting harder to read the board. She grimaced at the thought of having to tell her father that. She didn't like relying on him for anything.

Beside her, Takagi Sayori sighed quietly and pushed her notebook so that it leaned half off her desk, allowing Reina to see it. Reina beamed at her and set to copying as discreetly as she could; their history teacher was exceptionally strict.

Sayori was probably the only person Reina could really consider her friend in Shuutoku aside from her senpai in the kyudo club. Though they seemed rather different on the outside, Reina's lazy casualness versus Sayori's diligence and politeness that formed an invisible wall, they got along just fine. Both were the type that preferred to sit in comfortable silence and do their own thing, occasionally consulting the other.

Reina's phone lit up on her lap. Hiding behind her textbook, she swiped and unlocked her phone screen, grinning at the message.

[Yori-chan]: Get new glasses already

Sayori might have seemed like the classic quiet, rich, and studious girl who'd never broken a single rule and couldn't hurt a fly, but Reina had found out early on that Sayori was wickedly smart and crafty and used her public persona to her advantage.

[Me]: So expensive =A= Yori-chan you love me right?

[Yori-chan]: Not enough to foot the bill for new glasses

[Me]: </3

"Something you want to share with the class, Takemiya?" said the teacher. 

"Nope." Reina slid the phone into her bag at her feet, smiling the way Sayori had taught her to. The teacher snorted and turned away, not even glancing at Sayori. Damn. 2-9 in Sayori's favour.

* * *

Lunch came far too slowly; Reina was fighting to keep her eyes open at that point, kept awake only by Sayori's sharp jabs with the back of her mechanical pencil. When the bell finally rang, Reina let her head hit her desk with a groan.

"Are we going to eat in the classroom today?" Sayori sat down in the now empty seat in front of Reina and pulled her bento out, setting it on what little room wasn't taken up by Reina's head. The smell of fried chicken had the sleepy first year lifting her head and giving Sayori a hopeful look. Sighing, Sayori picked up a piece of the chicken and stuff it into her friend's mouth.

"'Or uu est, ori-aan."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Takemiya."

Reina swallowed the chicken and sighed, laying her head back down. "Aaaah… I don't wanna move…"

"If you don't eat lunch you'll fall asleep during afternoon classes too."

"Ugh…" Reluctantly, she rummaged around in her bag, and then froze. Her mind rewound to that morning, where she'd grabbed her school bag and breakfast… and nothing else.

She could practically see the bento box left behind on the living room table. Her head fell onto her desk with a thunk.

"… Again?" asked Sayori, already familiar with her friend's habits.

Reina's hands shot out with a speed in contrast to her usual sloth-like movements. Her comically tearstained face met Sayori's eyes.

"Yori-chan…"

"… You forgot your wallet too?"

"… Yes…"

Twenty minutes later, sat on the roof munching a curry bun, Reina leaned on Sayori's shoulder.

"Yori-chan daisuki~"

"Hurry up and eat."

"Yes Ma'am."

They ate in comfortable silence, occasionally trading bites of each other's food. When the bentos and wrappers were cleaned up, Sayori turned to Reina.

"How is the kyudo club? It's different from shooting in our hall, right?"

"Mmm… Yeah. I guess it feels more awkward… I'm not used to people watching."

"Other than onii-san?"

"Yori-chan, no."

"I'm just saying, seven years isn't that bad, and the way you followed after him like a lost duckling-"

Reina tackled Sayori, a move that didn't have much effect when they were both sitting.

Afterwards, with Reina laying on Sayori's lap and the latter brushing fingers through the former's hair, Reina curled up, facing away from her friend.

"He's coming back soon, right?"

"For Golden Week, yeah."

Reina sighed. _If I'd never gotten injured, I'd also be going to school in Kyoto. But if I'd never gotten injured, I'd never have started kyudo or met him._ She buried her face in Sayori's leg and made a series of noises, sounding like an injured whale.

"Ouch. That hurts, Takemiya. Come on, we have class now."

"Don't wanna go."

"I have the captain on speed dial."

"Geeeh…" 

* * *

Afternoon practice was undoubtedly the part of the day that Reina looked forward to the most. By then, she was finally wide awake, itching to get her hands on her bow.

_Thwang!_

The sound the bow made as the arrow left the string was still as satisfying and mesmerizing as the first time that Reina had heard it, a year ago. Of course, she was far from recreating the same elegant sound that had gotten her interested in the sport in the first place.

"We're leaving now, Takemiya. You got the keys?"

"Mmhmm."

"'Kay. Don't stay too late again, okay? Or Fuji'll have your head."

"Haaai."

The door to the hall slid shut, leaving Reina alone. An invisible weight slid off her shoulders. She set her bow down and went to retrieve the arrows in the targets.

She lost track of time and her surroundings as she shot arrow after arrow, not caring where they landed. Reveling in the creaking of the bow, the tension in the string, the pull of her muscles. It was just her, the bow, the arrow, and nothing else.

-

It was almost eight by the time she got home; she'd lost track of time again. The house was still dark, as usual. She held back a sigh and began dinner preparations. The bento she'd forgotten this morning would do for her own dinner.

She cooked, ate, and cleaned in silence. The lack of noise was as oppressive as usual, but she didn't dare to play music or even white noise to break it up. It felt too much like giving in, and she had some measure of pride. Even if she came home every day and woke up to an empty house, one day her waiting would pay off. It would have to. She'd been promised it, since before she'd even been old enough to understand why she didn't have a mother and why her father couldn't look her in the eyes.

The sound of her ringtone broke her out of her thoughts. The caller ID had her blinking in confusion. _Why would he be calling? He never calls._

"Yes, oji-san? What is it? … … You want me to what?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter lengths will hopefully get longer as the story rolls. I broke up the first chapter I wrote because there was a lot of awkward abrupt scene changes to get the setting down. Maybe I'll edit things into bigger chapters later.


	2. The Melancholy of Takao Kazunari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takao's intro.

"The thing that sucks about my position in the team," said Takao, leaning on his desk with an ice pop in his mouth, head resting on his hands. "There's no senpai I can harass into teaching me. Like, teaching me one-on-one."

"You should be intelligent enough to correct your deficiencies by yourself," Midorima replied, not looking up from his textbook. "And you already said that last night."

"I love you too, Shin-chan, but that takes so much brainpower," Takao moped, ignoring the death stare sent his way that would have vaporized anyone else except maybe the coach. "And time. So much time. If I had someone who could watch me and tell me what to correct wouldn't that be so much more efficient? Not that I don't love watching videos of Kaijou's Kasamatsu or whoever else is up on youtube, but there's only so long I can watch before my eyes get sore, and I could have used that time actually practicing instead. If I had a reliable senpai."

Midorima's unimpressed stare told Takao just how much the shooting guard cared about his plight, but he had at least finally looked up from his textbook so maybe he really did care. Or maybe he just couldn't focus with Takao moping quite literally next to his ear.

"That is what a coach is for," said Midorima, using much the same tone one would employ when they had to deal with a particularly obtuse child.

"But the coach can't keep an eye on me all the time, there's like, at least ten of us. I want someone that watches only me, for the whole time." A pause. "Actually on second thought that might be creepy. Oh, but I wouldn't mind if it was a cute girl."

"You are incorrigible," Midorima replied, turning back to his textbook, but Takao could tell he'd been reading the same paragraph for the last few minutes now. He really was such a tsundere.

"Don't worry, Shin-Chan, I'll always love you best-"

"Die."

Takao laughed and leaned back in his chair as he thought more seriously about his predicament.

"About that," said Nakatani, pausing when both boys shot up in surprise, Takao nearly falling out of his seat. He choked on his ice pop as it was and spent a few seconds coughing. Coach was generous enough to wait until he'd caught his breath again to continue. "I might be able to make an arrangement for you, Takao."

"Please make some noise when you move Coach where did you come from wait really?!"

Midorima conveyed more or less the same thing using facial expressions and a surprisingly emphatic adjustment of his glasses, which had slipped when he'd half leapt out of his seat. Or maybe they were just getting good at reading him. Poor boy wasn't nearly as stoic and aloof as he thought he was, and none of his kind, thoughtful senpais had the heart to break it to him (they also found it hilarious).

"Mmm, I can't guarantee anything yet. I'll have to... Ask." Takao squinted. The way their coach had spoken seemed to imply he wouldn't exactly be asking. He couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive, but shrugged and nodded in the end. A mentor was a mentor, especially one recommended by their coach. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

But why was Takemiya twitching?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takao, Midorima, Sayori and Reina are all in the same class in this fic. I don't know if Takao and Midorima are in the same class in canon, couldn't find any info.
> 
> It hurt me to post such a short chapter but it didn't fit in between anywhere without seeming like too abrupt of a scene change =A= Granted, I don't expect a lot of my future chapters to be that long either.


	3. Between a Wall and a... Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot really kicks off now~

"Takemiya, carry these papers to the teachers' office with me." Nakatani flagged the half-awake girl down before she could run away for lunch. She'd been doing an exceptional job avoiding him outside of class in the past few days, but it was costing her energy. Sayori eyed her, eyes offering her a way out, but she didn't want to drag her friend in between a conflict with her and a teacher. 

* * *

_"You want me to what?!"_

_"I want you to coach one of the boys on my team. Just one, the point guard, Takao-"_

_"I know who the point guard is, he's in my class. No."_

_"It would be paid."_

_"Don't need the money."_

_"It would go on your school transcripts."_

_"Don't care."_

_"What about-"_

_"I'm done with basketball, oji-san. I left that behind me a year ago. I'm not going back. I have other things to do with my life now that don't involve moping in the past."_

_"Seems more like you're running away to me."_

_A sharp intake of breath. He regretted the words, even if he meant them._

_"If that's all you have to say, good night." Her voice was sharp now, losing any last pretense of patience or leniency. She'd reverted to formal speech as well. He'd pushed far enough for the first night._

_"Good night." He hadn't finished the words before she hung up._

* * *

 

Reina walked stiffly beside Nakatani, carrying the thin stack of papers she'd been tasked with delivering. _Hah._ As if he really needed her help.

She dropped the pile on his desk and turned fully intending on getting out of the office and view of the teachers and making a break for it. It was lunch time, she could hide out in the kyudo hall.

"Wait." Nakatani's voice made her stop. She grit her teeth and didn't turn around. Around them the teachers tried and failed to be inconspicuous as they eavesdropped.

"What is it." And then, grudgingly, because she certainly wasn't feeling lucky, and Hanako-senpai would kill her if she got detention and missed afternoon practice, "Sir."

"Bring this to Takao, please." He held out a permission form. "I misplaced his, he'll have to get it signed again."

As if. Nakatani was one of the more well-organized teachers; she doubted he'd ever misplace anything so important.

She snatched the form and stomped out of the office. She couldn't call him out on the battlefield of his choosing. He'd assumed correctly that she wouldn't have made a scene in the middle of the teacher's office.

She stalked up to the rooftop, where Takao probably was. He always ate lunch with Midorima, sometimes with his basketball team, and always either in the classroom or on the rooftop.

No, she wasn't a stalker. He was loud, though not obnoxiously, and was the only one that could handle Midorima. You noticed them whether you wanted to or not.

He was, in fact, on the rooftop, in the middle of eating lunch, and with the basketball team regulars to boot. Normally, she would have laughed sheepishly, apologized for disturbing them, dropped off the sheet, and run away. She hated crowds. But she was pissed enough and able to ignore them.

She stomped up to Takao, and the miniscule part of her mind that wasn't seething with rage noted with dim amusement that all of the boys had frozen up, like prey trying to blend in and escape the notice of a predator. She held the permission form out to him.

"Nakatani-sensei asked me to give this to you. He says he lost the original copy." When Takao made no move to take the form, looking at her instead, she scowled. She was about to slap the copy onto his chest and leave, when he reached out, lightning fast, and grabbed hold of a wrist.

"Wait are you the one coach is trying to convince to coach me? You're… Takemiya, right?" One of the regulars sputtered - she couldn't tell who, because she was busy glaring at Takao.

"That's-" Well, technically it was his business. "I said no. Find someone else."

"Eeeh but if coach wants you to teach me you must be good. No way he'd settle for anyone else."

Well, that was certainly true. Damn him and his logic. The way he said it, she doubted he would settle for anyone less either, now that he knew her face and name.

"He's mistaken, I haven't touched a basketball in a year outside of gym class." She glanced down pointedly at the hand still holding her wrist. "Please let go of me."

Before Takao could say or do anything, Midorima stood up, eyes fixed on her. Unnerved, she glared back.

"I remember now," he said suddenly, and unease welled up inside her gut. "Takemiya. You were Akashi's girlfriend in second and third year until the accident that-" he cut himself off abruptly, seeming to finally remember that he was in front of a crowd, and what he had just said was something the subject of might not appreciate being hung up like dirty laundry for everyone to see. Or hear, for the matter.

Dark rage settled comfortably in her stomach, a familiar feeling. It was the worst and best kind of rage, that kept you level-headed enough to be aware of everything going on but impulsive enough to lash out at anyone and everyone, damn the consequences.

She always regretted what she said and did when in this state of mind, but still could not control herself when she fell back into it.

"That forced me to stop basketball, yes. Thank you for remembering me… One month into the school year. It's not like we weren't in the same class last year. But then again, I guess there's no need for a genius like you to remember broken goods like me." The bitterness in her voice surprised her. She really thought she'd already gotten over it.

Midorima flinched, but to his credit, held his ground. Takao had finally let go of her wrist. Next to them, the senpais were giving all three of them cautious looks ranging between apprehension and concern.

She took a breath and counted to ten to calm herself forcibly. It was a trick Sayori's brother had taught her.

"I'm not coaching anyone. Not now, not ever. I'm done with basketball," she repeated. "Sorry for disturbing your lunch. You probably don't really need to fill in the form again." Not that she cared. She disappeared down the stairwell.

* * *

 Sayori creeped out from behind the walls of the stairwell, having ducked around when Reina had appeared.

"Thank you for not giving me away." She glanced at the stairwell. "Please do not take what she said personally. She will come around; your coach knows her well. He would not push her this hard if he did not think he would succeed. I hoped to warn you on how to approach her on the topic, but she arrived sooner than I expected."

"What exactly happened then?" asked Miyaji, never one to care for social etiquette if it got in the way of what he wanted. "That accident you said that made her quit basketball."

"I think you should ask Midorima-san that," she demurred. "Good afternoon." She, too, vanished down the stairwell after her friend.

"Brrr. Did you feel that?" said Miyaji, rubbing his arms in exaggeration. "Was like a blizzard swept through. So are you gonna tell us what happened, Midorima, or tell us to ask someone else too?"

Midorima pushed his glasses up, clearly uncomfortable. He hadn't meant to reveal so much - he had just been shocked upon recognizing the girl. But Takagi seemed to have given him more or less permission to tell them.

"There is not much to say. Takemiya was the Teikou girls basketball team captain in the second half of her second year and first half of her third year. Shortly after the inter-high began in her third year, she was in an accident. The end result of it was that while her leg was salvaged, her knee would no longer be able to sustain heavy activity or stress, so she stepped down and quit the team. That's all I know."

""Not much to say," huh," Miyaji snorted "And what about that thing you said about her being Akashi's girlfriend? Not the Generation of Miracles Akashi, right?"

Midorima adjusted his glasses again. He disliked gossip on principal and this was bordering dangerously close. "It was indeed that Akashi. They were together for most of second year and the beginning of third year. While there was much speculation, no one knew for sure why they broke up, or even who initiated it." But he had his suspicions. He could count on one hand the times he'd seen his old captain unsettled, and shortly after his break-up at been one of those times. He didn't think Akashi would have been unsettled if he had been the one to instigate it.

"Well, not that that wasn't a fascinating talk," said Takao, breaking through the doom and gloom atmosphere with the ease of someone resigned to doing that job, "but I don't feel lucky enough today to test our sensei's patience if we're late.

Thus reminded of their impending doom (if Nakatani found out they skipped class without a reason he deemed acceptable, he ran them to the ground with drills), they scrambled to pack up and hurried back down into the school.

* * *

 Reina shot arrow after arrow in sullen silence. Only about half of them hit the target, but she didn't seem to notice.

If it weren't for the nearly visible raincloud hanging over the first year's head, Hanako would have smacked her and told her to go home already. But the captain was well aware of what kind of home was waiting for Takemiya; a dark and empty one, devoid of life and even sound unless Reina herself made an effort. It was all too easy for the girl to lose herself in her own thoughts in that place.

Hanako sighed and signaled for the remaining club members that had stayed out of concern to leave. Takagi, the smart girl, had already left a couple minutes ago. Hanako had once asked Takagi if there wasn't anything she could say to Takemiya when the latter got into one of these moods. Takagi had shaken her head, something sad creeping into her expression.

"It's not a matter of saying anything," she'd said quietly. "She already knows anything I might say. If I try, she'll just smile and say nothing's wrong."

Hanako made a quick trip to the lockers to grab her textbooks and settled down in a corner to start on her homework. She was going to be here a while.

* * *

 

Reina wasn't sure how many arrows she'd shot when she finally snapped out of her daze, but judging by the sun disappearing behind the horizon, it must have been quite a while.

"Your form's getting better."

"EEK!" She jumped like an electrocuted squirrel, spinning around and swinging her bow. Her captain caught it effortlessly, a vein popping on her forehead.

"DON'T USE THE BOW AS A WEAPON." The captain wrenched the bow out of her hands and smacked her sharply on the forehead with her knuckles.

"Owowowowowwww… Captain is so mean…" Reina's thoughts raced. Why was Hanako-senpai still here? Had she stayed the whole time for her? Her heart warmed at the thought.

"You still have a tendency to release too soon. Work on that."

"Ah… Yes. Um, I can clean up-"

Hanako snorted.

"Look around, brat. Everything's been pretty much done already. Just take the targets down." So saying, she set Reina's bow down and went to move the targets at the end of the hall.

"Ah, I can do that, Captain-"

"Shush. I want to go home sooner too."

"Captain can go on ahead, really-"

Hanako sighed.

"What kind of captain would I be if I left you like this? You'd probably walk into a red light."

"… I'm not that bad…"

"I've heard stories from Takagi."

"That traitor."

The two bantered easily as they cleaned up and Reina changed. The first year relaxed as they moved onto safer topics.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home."

"Kyaa Captain, at least take me to dinner first-"

"I will assign laps, don't think I won't."

"Captain is the most beautiful and wonderful captain ever-"

"That's better." Hanako reached out to ruffle Reina's hair fondly. "You haven't eaten since lunch, right? My parents are away for the week, let's go get ramen." The cautiously eager look on her kouhai's face made Hanako want to hunt down the girl's father and strangle him.

* * *

 

The warm feeling in Reina's chest persisted even as they split ways, the heavy door of her apartment closing behind her with a quiet click, locking her in the darkness of her empty home. She went to sleep feeling peaceful for the first time in a long time.

More than ever, she was glad that she had begun kyudo. Basketball could go screw itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sayori wasn't meaning to give Midorima permission to spill the beans. She was being a sarcastic little shit and also kind of implying "Let's see if you can keep your mouth shut this time." But Midorima probably didn't catch any of that and assumed she meant it literally.
> 
> Lots of not-so-subtle hints on Reina's living situation. It'll be dramatic but don't worry, it'll be resolved relatively quickly once it actually takes front and center. I don't like dragging out suffering >_>
> 
> Reina underestimates Nakatani's stubbornness. He has to wrangle a group of hormonal teenage boys, which includes Midorima in that group.


	4. A Deal’s a Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cracks begin to show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made a quick change to chapter 1, an edit I forgot to apply. Reina and Sayori met and became friends in middle school, but chapter 1 implies that they only became friends in high school.

Takao sat down in the chair in front of her desk the next morning, smiling a sunny smile that didn’t drop even when she shot him a glare.

“Yo!” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on her desk. “I didn’t know you did kyudo. That’s really cool! I don’t know anyone else who does it.”

She ignored him and took out her textbooks, arranging them on her desk. Sayori sideyed her; she never organized her stuff before class. She sometimes even forgot to bring a pencil and had to beg one off of her neighbour. Takao had to move his elbows, or get smacked by her math textbook.

“Did you start after you quit basketball?” he continued, seemingly fearless. Midorima walked into the classroom at that moment, caught sight of them, and walked faster. Smart guy.

“Were you born with a nose that long or did you stretch it out yourself?” she replied acidicly. She scowled further when Takao smirked.

“I was born like this, sadly. There was no cure for it.”

“I’ll be happy to cut it off for you. Yori-chan, can I borrow your scissors?”

“No blood in the classroom,” said her neighbour and best friend and traitor, not looking up from her phone. “Onii-san said he’d coming back this weekend and wants to make sure you haven’t forgotten everything he’s taught you.”

“Haii~” Reina turned to face her neighbour, ignoring Takao’s presence. Takao grinned wryly and left to bother Midorima instead, getting the message loud and clear.

* * *

He was back the next morning.

And the next.

And the next.

It made Reina want to tear at her hair. No matter how fiercely she glared, he would. Not. Leave. Sayori, the turncoat, didn’t seem to mind him one bit. Though she ever initiated conversation, she would never fail to reply and give him something else to work with.

Reina couldn’t even up and leave the classroom, because he always ambushed them when class was close to starting and wouldn’t leave until the teacher was ready to call his name. What she hated the most was that she was starting to get used to him.

So of course, it couldn’t last.

* * *

 “C’mon,” Takao cajoled, laying across her desk as usual that morning. “Look at Yori-chan, I don’t have to pry answers out of her with a crowbar. Favourite ghibli movie?”

Reina sighed and gave in. “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

“Wow, I didn’t take you for a romantic.”

“Something wrong with that?”

“No no, not at all. Mine is Laputa.”

“Totoro,” said Sayori when they turned to look at her.

“That fits,” Reina mused. “Your summer cottage looks like it came straight out of that movie.”

“You’ve been to her summer cottage?” asked Takao. He turned to Sayori. “You have a _summer cottage_? Can I marry you?”

“You’ll have to get past my brother first.”

“The scary tall one?”

“Naoto-san’s not scary,” said Reina on reflex. Sayori and Takao turned to face her, knowing looks on their faces, and she scowled.

Takao looked between her and Sayori.

“Is she going out with your brother?” he asked.

“No, but I’m working on that,” said Sayori. Takao whistled.

“Isn't he like, a decade older? Didn’t know you were for the older guys, Takemiya-chan.” he yelped when Reina stepped on his foot, _hard_. “Hey, be careful, basketball regular here!” he laughed. “What if you broke something and I couldn’t play?”

The mood plummeted. Reina shot him a glare full of loathing and unfiltered hatred. Takao’s smile finally faltered. He shot a glance at Sayori, only to find that she had a similar though less intense expression on her face.

“It would take far more than that to break something,” said Reina, every word dripping with loathing and contempt. “I would know.”

And Takao wanted to bury himself six feet under, realizing what he’d said to someone that had suffered a leg injury so bad it had made her quit the sport he was currently playing. He opened his mouth to apologize when the homeroom teacher walked in. Reina turned away, clearly dismissing him. He sighed and left for his desk.

* * *

“Him and stupid, big fat mouth-” Reina huffed as she crammed a piece of yam tempura into her mouth. It was dry and a bit soggy from being left overnight and then reheated, but tasted just fine otherwise.

“That’s rather mild for you,” said Sayori, lips twitching in amusement. They sat on the roof, having claimed it the fastest. The basketball regulars had showed up, taken one look, and left. Takao had tried and failed to make eye contact.

“He’s not _that_ bad,” Reina admitted grudgingly. “And he didn’t mean it. It was a slip of the tongue.” She sighed and leaned back. “I over-reacted.”

“Mmm. Well, you’re usually nice, so as long as you apologize and accept his apology, it should be fine.”

Reina sighed and flopped onto Sayori’s lap, lunch temporarily forgotten.

“You’re the only one that gets me, Yori-chan. What would I do without you?”

Sayori stuffed a piece of carrot into Reina’s mouth, smiling when the girl choked and whined. She fed her friend a piece of salmon before speaking again.

“In all seriousness, people are going to misunderstand with the way he keeps on looking at you during class.” Even the teachers had noticed, he was that unsubtle. “If for just the sake of making sure no one thinks he likes you, it might be better to get this all over with sooner rather than later.” He had quite a few fangirls, and while some of those girls were perfectly reasonable human beings, others were harpies with a jealous streak the size of a football field.

Reina groaned and sat back up.

“He'd just start hanging out with us again. He won't give up until I agree to coach him. At least this way he has to keep a distance.”

Sayori didn't ask why she didn't give in, do a dismal job, and shoo him away that way. They both knew that regardless of her feelings, she wouldn't mess around in basketball.

* * *

She didn’t get the chance to forgive him or apologize that day.

She’d let her guard down. Nakatani had stopped bothering her after his first attempt, so she’d assumed he’d given up.

The afternoon had started smoothly enough. She watched the clock as it ticked away, dreading their gym class they had last period. They were starting basketball.

She’d said that she hadn’t touched a basketball outside of gym class. That was a lie. She’d gotten injured after their basketball week in third year at Teikou. This would be the first time she touched a basketball since. She wasn’t sure what would happen. She changed into her gym clothes in their classroom with the rest of the girls, taking deep breaths to keep the mounting panic at bay.

It was just for a week. Just a few hours in total. She used to play that much in a single _day_. She would be fine. She closed her eyes and placed her hands together, squeezing so hard she could feel her bones. Sayori placed a hand over her clenched fists, forcefully separating them. Gently, she tugged Reina towards the door.

They caught Takao’s sharp eyes as they left. He didn’t wear his cat-like smile for once; he looked worried. Reina averted her eyes and they left for the gym.

* * *

She caught the ball when her team won the tip-off, and instantly slid into a semi-crouch, eyes scanning the court. No one was free. She let the ball fall and began a drive, spinning past her guard, who was startled at how fast she moved.

She felt like she was going too fast and too slow at the same time. She was moving faster than she’d dared to in a while, yet this was so much slower than before.

_Faster._

_I have to go faster._

A sliver of pain flashed up her knee and she faltered. She passed to a teammate, who completed a layup successfully and cheered.

_I can do this._

She caught a pass.

Dribble, step, pass.

Catch a pass, check who’s open, pass.

Screen, move to catch a pass, dribble, lay-up.

Her heart pounded and her lungs heaved. Pain shot up her knee everytime she landed harshly or changed direction too abruptly but she was lost in the glee of finally, finally, finally playing basketball again.

“Takemiya!” Mikado-sensei, the PE teacher, broke her out of her daze. “Takemiya, what’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself somewhere?”

“Eh?” What was she talking about? Most of the class, including the boys who were playing in the other half of the gym, had turned to stare.

“You’re crying,” said Sayori, worried. Reina lifted a hand to touch a cheek. It was wet.

“Oh.” So she was. She rubbed her face hurriedly, feeling it redden from embarrassment. “No, I’m- I’m fine.”

“Why don’t you go get some water and take a break,” said the teacher.

“No-” She wanted to keep on playing. She stepped forward, intent on insisting that she was fine. Her leg chose that moment to finally buckle. She would have landed painfully if Sayori hadn’t caught her.

“You’ve been playing non-stop for almost the whole class, and with that knee,” said Mikado-sensei. She was aware of her problems with her leg. “Go get your leg checked out.”

Reina bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. The coppery tang grounded her. “Yes sensei.” She hobbled out of the gym with Sayori.

* * *

She was so caught up in everything that she hadn’t noticed how Takao’s eyes had hardly left her the whole class, even at the expense of his own game.

* * *

The nurse wasn’t an expert on post-traumatic arthritis and could only take her at her word that she would be fine with some rest. She lay down on a bed and closed her eyes. Sayori returned to class. A few minutes later, the nurse left as well for a staff meeting.

Reina waited a minute, then sat up and punched her pillow.

_How could I have been so stupid?!_ She continued to punch her pillow, losing the battle with her tears. They slipped down her cheeks silently. She’d given herself _hope_ again. She looked down at her hands; they were red, not used to handling the rough surface of the ball anymore.

But her body remembered nonetheless. Passing, dribbling, running; it had all felt so _right_. But she couldn't play. She would never be able to play basketball again. Her knee couldn’t take the burden, not even for the forty minutes she’d just played. And then there was her father. Her aunt’s voice rang in her ears.

_Don’t cause any more trouble for him._

She buried her face in the pillow and let the tears flow.

When she returned to the classroom, it was empty. She arrived at her desk and stared incomprehensibly.

Instead of her uniform, a basketball uniform lay on her desk. On top of it lay a note that said, _Come to the gym._ She recognized the handwriting from the red corrections on her english tests.

She saw red.

(The students still milling around in the hallways wisely moved out of her warpath when she stomped past, dressed in a spare girl's team basketball jersey. Sayori, who’d been waiting for her by the shoe lockers, sighed and texted Hanako that she and Reina would probably be missing practice, and to ask Nakatani-sensei for the reason why.)

* * *

Practice ground to a halt when the gym doors opened to reveal a familiar first-year. All of the regulars were acquainted with Takemiya Reina now, and why Nakatani seemed to be trying to recruit her. Her eyes scanned the gym.

“Where is he?” she asked. Her tone was polite and calm yet there was an undercurrent of threat in her voice.

“Where is who?” Ootsubo asked.

“Your pervert of a coach, who else?” Approximately two-thirds of the gym choked. The other third, either stupid or fearless, did their best to hold in their laughter (Takao belonged in this category).

“He’s… Not here yet,” said Ootsubo, somehow keeping a poker face. “Would you like to wait for him?”

Suddenly seeming to realize the audience they had, Takemiya froze, then sighed. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "I'll... Go wait on the stage." She avoided Takao’s stare steadfastly.

Takao’s heart raced. Was coach actually going to succeed in convincing her? He’d seen her play in gym class earlier today. She was good; he could tell. She moved like a seasoned player despite her claims. It was a stark contrast from her usual lethargic and carefree persona in class. She’d also been holding back.

She was just who he needed; someone who played like him, who could watch him and him alone and tell him what he did right and wrong and what he could work on. Someone with a good eye, who also had experience playing his position and knew what it was like. Takao was the point guard, but he was less experienced that his senpai, so he left the plays to them and focused on support.

But he could tell, that wasn’t their forte. He needed to get stronger, to pick up the slack so that the senpai could focus on their strengths and stop having to look after him.

He thought back to her smooth passes, the way her eyes took in every player on the field, calculating routes and visualising plays. He wanted to see her play at her best.

Five minutes later, the coach walked into the gym, and everyone froze again as Takemiya locked onto him like a shark with the smell of blood in her nose.  
  
The argument seemed rather one-sided, Takemiya growing more and more furious while Nakatani remained unruffled, keeping his eyes on practice. Takao wondered if they would need to arrange a funeral by the time practice ended.  
  
"Focus," Midorima snapped, slapping the ball out of his hands.  
  
"Oops. Sorry, Shin-chan." Shaking his head, Takao put thoughts of Takemiya out of his mind and jumped to block Midorima, who faked and passed to Kimura. Say what you wanted about the spoiled boy with ridiculously selfish requests, but at least he knew to pass the ball when it was clear his shot wouldn't be getting through.  
  
(Though it could also have been the pineapple Miyagi had thrown at him once when he'd been a particularly bad ball hog. The fruit had exploded into a sticky mess on the locker room wall right next to Midorima's head, and Takao forever regretted not being fast enough to get a picture of the Miracle's shocked face. Midorima had learned to share the ball when necessary rather quickly after that, albeit grudgingly, and would never say out loud that he would be passing.)  
  
The three-on-three ended in Midorima's team's win again, as it usually did. They were about to switch teams and play again when Nakatani called them all to gather. Takemiya stood beside him, glaring at the polished floor.

"You'll be playing another three on three, full court," Coach announced. "Takao, Ootsubo, Midorima on one team. Rei- Takemiya, Ichinose, Miyaji Yuuya on the other team."  
  
The silence in the gym was deafening. The captain and the two prodigious first years - one of them a miracle to boot - versus a bench player, a reserve player, and a girl that couldn't have been taller than five foot seven? It was going to be a bloodbath.  
  
"Well," said Takao, grasping for words that could alleviate the killing intent in the air without directing it onto himself. "Well. Let's play some ball?"  
  
"During the game," Coach continued, ignoring the heavy mood, "Takao and Takemiya will call the plays. Everyone else is to follow their lead. Takao, if your team wins, Takemiya has agreed to mentor you."  
  
Takao felt his breath hitch in his throat. It couldn’t be this easy, could it? If she wanted to win against him, captain, and Midorima, she would have to go all-out. He would either see her play seriously, or get her as his mentor. Maybe even both.

The rules explained why Coach hadn't picked Miyagi the senior, at least. Ootsubo was much more easy-going about letting the first years have their way, and would have less problem with Takao calling the shots, even for a mini three-on-three.

"Well... Alright." Takao tried for a smile, hoping too much of his eagerness didn’t show. He doubted Takemiya would appreciate it.

As if reading his mind, though he hadn't tried particularly hard to hide his thoughts, Takemiya gave him an unimpressed stare and turned away to convene with her temporary teammates.

* * *

She knew it wasn’t entirely oji-san’s fault. He was doing what he thought was best for her. He knew she didn’t want to play basketball again but he didn’t know that there was more than one reason why. He thought it was past trauma and not wanting to experience something only to have it pulled away before she could fully enjoy it; with her knee the way it was, she would never be able to play a full game to the best of her abilities.

He didn’t know there was also her aunt’s scathing words, her father’s silence, the oppressive emptiness and the pain of hope she endured every time she went home. The way her aunt strung her father around and let him use her as an excuse to not look at his daughter. The crippling fear of finally tipping over the balance and becoming too much of a burden for her father to even pretend to want to live with her.

She threw all of that out of her mind and herself into the game, letting fury and indignation drive her. Gone was the joy and glee and wonder she’d felt just that afternoon. She pushed her temporary teammates, demanding the best out of them and putting her trust in them. They performed beautifully, responding to her trust. At the very least, thought the side hidden deep inside of her that still dared to hope, she hadn’t lost much of her touch. Her senses were nearly as sharp as they’d been a year ago.

* * *

They lost. Reina stared at the _21-17_ on the scoreboard, resignation weighing her shoulders down. Now she would have to face the sport she loved and hated every day, stare at it, watch others blazing across the court, while she was confined to the sidelines. She walked out of the gym before she lost control and screamed, though not before patting her teammates on the back and thanking them. Miyaji the younger shrugged, embarrassed but pleased. Ichinose looked as though he was going to faint.

She wondered how long it would take for her to lose her mind.

* * *

Takao panted heavily. The little three-on-three had been almost as intense as a real game.

Takemiya had looked positively radiant on the court. Like a vengeful goddess extracting her pound of flesh, she tore through them mercilessly, stopped only by Midorima. Her passes were more than just passes, too; he could tell, the accuracy with which she passed them made those that received the passes feel better, the mark of a veteran point guard. Out of practice his _ass_.

He knew the only reason they hadn’t lost was because none of them had been able to stop Midorima’s threes, but he supposed that was another victory to them as well, because it meant they had forced him to rely solely on Midorima to break through. The disparity in their experience in choosing and directing plays had been thoroughly drilled home, despite what the score might suggest.

Takao wanted to play like her. He wanted her as his mentor. He wanted that more than anything now. But at the same time, he was worried about the weary look in her eyes as she left. He was starting to think that her issue with basketball went beyond just an accident that had made her quit.

She didn’t look at Coach on the way out. The man didn’t seem concerned at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reina is being recruited for her natural sense as a point guard and ability to make quick decisions in the middle of a game. It's what Takao's been trying to improve. I headcanon that if he's a point guard and a first year, then there must not be any point guards in higher grades, and thus no one to really mentor him one-on-one. Also, for the sake of this fic, he doesn't have much experience directing plays himself. Let’s say he wasn’t the captain when he was in middle school.  
> Meanwhile Reina used to be a national level player and called the shots for nearly the whole time she was on Teikou's team. Rather than teaching him things (she probably doesn't know much more than he does tbh), Nakatani’s goal is to get her to watch Takao and make sure he's on the right track. And also to get her playing again, for reasons that will be revealed later.  
> Hope I didn't exaggerate her actual basketball level too much, most of it is Takao being dazzled by her lol. She's not even close to Miracle level, and she was captain in middle school but I don't HC the girls team as nearly as OP as the boy's team. The stacked match was to showcase how she could bring out the most of her teammates with her natural sense as a point guard. I see that position as kind of like the equivalent of the setter from volleyball; physical ability is important, but your sense for the game is even more important.


End file.
